Quake-leveled China county opens to mourners

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-04-03 18:00

The county that perished in last year's devastating earthquake reopened Wednesday morning to former residents who wished to mourn the dead ahead of the annual tomb sweeping day that falls on Saturday.

Beichuan County, which has been closed since May 20 last year, will be open for four days until Saturday.

The mourning crowd began pouring into the dead county at 7 a.m. Policemen checked everyone's ID to make sure only natives of Beichuan were allowed into the county.

Most mourners brought incense, candles and bouquet to the ruins of former schools, homes and offices, shed tears, and spent a few hours with the deceased.

The county government had to clean the streets leading to the old county seat of vendors, mostly quake survivors who eked out living selling postcards of the quake site, incense and "paper money" for the dead.

The government also arranged more than 10 buses that offered free rides for the mourners to travel from their new homes in the nearby city of Mianyang.